Change of Heart
by smidgeon
Summary: Draco Malfoy's stuck in a world where everyone's trying to kill him, until he strikes an alliance with the three people he's always hated the most. How will a 5th year Slytherin and the Golden Trio change Malfoy's outlook on the world? R&R Please!
1. The Plea

**The Plea**

_Disclaimer:_ _The plot belongs to me... If owned everyone else I would be working on the Half Blood Prince, not some stupid fanfic._  
  
Draco's mind was in turmoil, and he could no longer stand the horror and tension that engulfed his house, not to mention his parents. Lucius had attempted to force his son to join the Death Eaters; at first this excited the younger Malfoy, just the thought of being evil, of being able to help rid the world of mudbloods was exhilarating... until he was faced with his final challenge, the murder of an innocent. True, that's not how the Dark Lord had worded it, what was the phrase the Death Eaters had used? Ah yes, "Cleansing". Draco snorted, even he couldn't eat that propaganda, true, he didn't like mudbloods, but killing those that had done nothing to hurt him but best him, that was below him. Or perhaps he was just afraid? He shook his head, that idea was ridiculous; it took guts to leave the Dark Lord. He let out a deep sigh, it was time to get on with this, he'd made his decision. He stuck out his wand hand, shuddering as a loud roar came down the street that ran in front of his mansion.  
  
"Welcome to the Knight Bus sir, where might ye be goin'?"  
  
The girl's smooth, accented speech shook Draco from his daze, what happened to the other oaf-of-a-conductor?  
  
"Diagon Alley, the Leakey Cauldron, keep the change," he kept it short, sweet, and to the point handing her a gallion and stretching out on one of the beds. He'd never ridden the Knight Bus before, but he'd heard about it, and braced himself for a bumpy ride. He didn't brace well enough, once the bus started he went flying from the bed, landing with a bang on the back wall of the bus; the girl he'd given the money to earlier looked down at him as if he'd done something stupid.  
  
"Ye ought to hold on a bit better sir, is a bumpy ride, wouldn't want ye to be all bruised up when ye got ta Diagon Alley would we?"  
  
Draco groaned in reply, this wasn't fun; he couldn't wait for the ride to be over. Suddenly he found himself flung forward as the bus came to a screeching halt.  
  
"Diagon Alley!" The drivers shout echoed from the front, as the conductor hopped off the bus with Draco's trunk in hand. Slowly the young Malfoy sauntered off, attempting not to show how bruised he was from the jarring ride.  
  
"Thanks much," he picked up his trunk and carried it into The Leakey Cauldron, setting it in front of a long wooden desk, he turned to the hunched bartender, "how much for a room?"  
  
The man cracked a broken smile, "I can get you a fairly nice room for 10 gallions Mr.Malfoy."  
  
"That will work," he followed Tom up the stairs into one of the nicer rooms at the inn. Through his window he could see Diagon Alley stretching far below him. Well, he would be safe in Diagon Alley, but what about when he got back to Hogwarts? Everyone that was in anyway connected to the Death Eaters would have heard about his escape from the Dark Lord, and that would not go over well in his house. What would he do? Who could he talk to? Damn, he wished he could turn to Snape but that just wasn't an option, Snape was a Death Eater and was just as likely to murder him as Draco's own father was, and that was very likely. He looked down to Diagon Alley again and saw a familiar quartet, Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Ginny Weasley, and they were headed this way. What if that was an option? They wouldn't listen to him; they never would, but Dumbledore, if he could just get to Dumbledore. Potty, Weasel and their mudblood friend would know how to talk to the headmaster; he just needed to find out how. Pulling his cloak over his head he slipped down the narrow stairway, carefully Draco positioned himself right behind the table the Weasley family and their guests had taken seats at. He was trying to figure out how to go about this, should he come right out and start talking to them? Oh yes, that would go over so well. He could see it now "Oh, hi Potter, I decided not to join the Death Eaters so now the Dark Lord is trying to kill me, so do you think I could talk to Dumbledore and see if he could keep me safe." Draco started sniggering, that was a small mistake, his laugh was recognizable to his old time foes.  
  
"Malfoy?!" Ron turned with surprise, "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Well, actually Ron, I was hoping for your, Harry's, and Hermione's help," Draco thought quickly, he would have to be blunt, actually tell the truth. There was something twisted about that, although he couldn't exactly name what it was.  
  
The use of their first names surprised the trio, and they withdrew from him as if he had a disease, where they all had been rising to do who knows what to him they immediately sat back down.  
  
"Why should we help you?" Harry asked apprehensively.  
  
"It's not exactly something I'm willing to discuss in a public place, a bit humiliating, especially talking to you three about it. Now if you'd be more than willing to join you in private... Tom," he beckoned the bartender over, "Could we get a private dining –"  
  
"Wait!" Hermione interrupted, "How do we know this isn't a trap?!"  
  
Draco sighed, "A Death-Eater-free room if you please, Tom," the man smiled his broken-tooth smile and turned to lead them to one of the side rooms.  
  
"This isn't right, this isn't right, he's going to kill us, oh I just know it," Hermione was muttering over and over again under her breath.  
  
"Oh, don't be stupid Hermione, how are Death Eaters going to get into the Leakey Cauldron undetected, you can't honestly believe Tom's in on all this."  
  
Hermione fell silent, but Draco saw the wand clutched tightly in her hand. Her knuckles were turning white and her face was growing paler by the moment, it was funny how much terror a coward like him could – he stopped himself, he wasn't a coward. His thoughts were broken as Tom swung the door shut behind them with a loud bang; Draco took a seat and the other three follow suit.  
  
"I suppose this surprises you?"  
  
"Of course not," Harry's voice was filled with sarcasm, "the guy that has been insulting me for years asks for help, sounds perfectly normal to me."  
  
"Trust me, Potty," using Harry's old nickname with disdain and malice Draco more than felt, "Had I my way I would not be here right now," Hermione laid a hand on each of the adolescents arms and forced them to sit down again.  
  
"Just shut up and talk Malfoy," her voice was cold and harsh, but Malfoy was used to it, at least SHE was giving him a chance to talk!  
  
"Well, it's no secret to you who my Dad is," Ron's snort and Hermione's blanch confirmed his statement, "yeah, well, he tried to force me to become a Death Eater too."  
  
"Congratulations, you get to follow in Daddy's footsteps," Harry voice dripped with hatred.  
  
"Did I sound like I was done Potter?" Harry fell silent again, "As I was saying... There are three trials to becoming a Death Eater, first, you must prove loyalty to the Dark Lord by killing a house elf," he greatly enjoyed Hermione's look at this statement and had fun playing on her emotions by adding, "why on earth killing vermin proves loyalty to anything is beyond me."  
  
This time it was Ron's turn to restrain Hermione as she attempted to place a hard punch in the middle of his face. Malfoy was impressed, they were actually attempting to hear it out.  
  
"Well, I had no problem with that one. The second test was simple as well, performing all three unforgivable curses on an animal of Voldemort's choosing. The poor, poor Niffler," Draco paused here, when no reaction came he cleared his throat and went on, "The last task is the one I could not bring myself to complete, the killing of a mudblood."  
  
"Only 'cause your to much of a bloody coward!" Ron's outburst left Malfoy speechless for a moment; he quickly composed himself and decided not to respond to that comment.  
  
"Well... you all three should know the punishment that awaits anyone who fails any of the three tests."  
  
Hermione snorted derisively, Ron blinked hard as if trying to force a picture out of his brain, and Harry squirmed uncomfortably. Malfoy grinned, "That's what I thought."  
  
After a long paused the Slytherin continued, "So? Will you help me?"  
  
The three friends stared at him for a long moment before anything was said...  
  
(A/N: I don't know how soon it'll be before I can update, busy summer you know. For a disclaimer, the only thing I claim a right to is the plot. Oh yes, and I'm a pyro, so flamers don't bother me at all... I'll just use them to light a fire for s'mores, and if you review, I'll give you one!! Really just wanna know if it's even worth continuing.)


	2. A Restless Night

**A Restless Night**

_Disclaimer: The plot belongs to me, everything else is property of the great J.K.R. Oh yes, and Redneck Woman belongs to my idol - Gretchen Wilson!_

Ginny Weasley sat hunched outside of a door to one of the private parlours of the Leaky Cauldron. Although an odd place for a 16 year old girl to be, most people passed by without a thought, but a careful observer would note a piece of flesh colored string stretching from ear under the door... Fred and George would be glad to hear one of their inventions had gone to such wonderful use, since Ginny figured they would be as curious as she was to what business Draco Malfoy had with the three friends.

Ginny got bored with they're slightly repitive and monotonous conversation. It was all arguements about wether or not Draco was telling the truth. So she did the obvious thing, she started singing a muggle tune she had learned earlier that summer under her breath...  
Well I ain't never  
Been the Barbie Doll type  
I can't swig that sweet Champaign  
I'd rather drink beer all night  
In a tavern, or in a Honky-Tonk  
I own a 4 Wheel Drive Tail Gate  
Yeah I got posters on my wall  
Of Skynr, Kid, n' Straight  
I'm a Redneck Woman  
I ain't no high class broad  
I'm just the product of my raisin'  
I say hey ya'll and yeehaw  
(A/N: Sorry it was stuck in my head, I had to put it in somewhere, I will be developing Ginny as a total Gretchen Wilson fan, don't worry, hehe)

Soon she heard the voices begin to die.  
"Thank you so much for agreeing to help me!" Draco drawled.  
"We didn't agree to help you, we agreed to talk to Dumbledore," Hermione sounded slightly annoyed.  
"That's all I ask."  
Well then... they had agreed to help him, that was interesting. She couldn't imagine why, he had done so many horrible things to them, and he was probably just planning a trap. Imagine, Lucius Malfoy's son NOT a death eater, the idea was almost laughable. Although the boy was a bloody coward, that might be part of it, she'd heard it mentioned earlier and noted that Malfoy ignored Ron's comment; that could be important. She coiled up the extenable ear and headed slowly up the rickety stairs to the room her and Hermione were sharing. It was one of the nicer rooms, considering that Hermione's parents had paid for it, it overlooked Diagon Alley, during the day you could see all the hustle and bustle in the streets below, Ginny enjoyed it more than anything. A lot of time she would see friends emerging out of the crowd into different shops and would go sprinting down the stairs to greet them. Luna and Neville had both been through, it still amazed how much Neville had grown up since the Ball two years ago, she'd seen the change in him last year... but this year it was different. True, he was still clumsy, but somehow more composed, and he tended to whine a lot less. Luna hadn't changed a bit, she still was the daughter of the guy who published The Quibbler, that couldn't be overlooked, but Ginny had a new respect for her since the incident at the Ministry, and she knew she wasn't the only one.

Ginny's mind had started to wonder, causing her to fail to notice Hermione's entrance into the room.  
"Gin, you okay?" Hermione sounded worried, she'd never seen her friend in such deep thought, for past years Ginny had been light hearted and young, but all three of the trio had noticed a change in her this year, she was growing up, but none of them would admit it in front of Ron.  
"Yeah, just thinking."  
"What about?"  
"How much everyone and everything has changed since that night at the Ministry..." she allowed her voice to fade, wondering what response this would bring to Hermione. Ginny especially had avoided talking about it.  
"Change happens, you just have to learn to take it as it comes."  
"Yeah... I guess," suddenly Ginny's short term memory clicked back into place, causing her to sit up with a start and scare Hermione, "What about Draco?"  
Hermione turned startled, true, Ginny had been there when they spotted Malfoy, but the three friends had been under the impression they had managed to slip away quietly without anyone noticing. Looking back on it Hermione thought, _"Wishful thinking... Ginny and the twins, nothing can get by any of them, much less all three!"  
_"What about Malfoy?"  
"What'd he want?" It was amazing how well Ginny could lie.  
"You heard the whole conversation didn't you?"  
"No, not a word."  
"Remember Gin, I know about the extendables."  
The battle of wits and words was on, "I know you know, what makes you think I would use them on you three?"  
"The three of us went into a room with our arch enemy, I know I would listen in."  
"You might have, but that doesn't mean I would."  
"No, it doesn't mean you would, but you did."  
"Prove it."  
"Not worth my time, I'd rather tell you the whole conversation. You could of course save us both a lot of energy and admit you heard it."  
"Alright, I heard it," Ginny shrugged, "I'd like to know _why_ you agreed to take it to Dumbledore though."  
"Well, it's simple really. We take it to Dumbledore for him to determine whether it's the truth or not, or we risk it being the truth and condemn an almost innocent teenager to a horrible fate."  
_"Hermione always was matter a fact and to the point, although not usually that blunt, I suppose that's what I get for asking though," _Ginny sighed before drifting off into another train of thought.  
"It's getting late," Hermione cut into Ginny's daydreams, "We should get to sleep, for all our shopping we _still_ haven't gotten our school supplies, and the Hogwart's Express comes in 3 days."  
"You're right, as usual, 'night 'Mione."  
"G'night Ginny."  
The room went dark and the two girls lay down in hopes that peaceful sleep would visit them tonight. For Hermione... that wish was granted.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ginny closed her eyes hard, trying to remember the dream that had woken her, she knew it had to a nightmare she was sweating, her red hair was matted to her back and she could feel herself shaking. She took a couple of slow, deep breaths then got out of bed. She walked across the creaking floor, trying not to disturb Hermione, making her way to the window that looked over Diagon Alley. There a pitcher of water and a bowl with a washcloth awaited her, after splashing some water onto her face she poured herself a glass of water and leaned against the window frame... but it wasn't something from the Alley that caught her attention, it was the other silhouette framed in the next window, it looked familiar. They didn't seem to notice her so she inched to the other side of the window and flipped on HER light to get a better look. It was Draco Malfoy. Now that she thought about it that didn't surprise Ginny to much, she supposed that if she had Voldemort hunting her she wouldn't be able to sleep either. That's when Ginny remembered the dream...

_Dumbledore's dead body lay next to Voldemort's on the battleground where the war had waged for over 3 days, Voldemorts followers had retaliated after his death, bringing the downfall of the only powerful wizards left on the planet. Lucius Malfoy lay dead with his son standing over him – a look of determination on Malfoy's face, a few feet away Harry kneeled crying over a dead Mr. and Mrs.Weasley, Ron was sitting a few yards away – not having noticed the fall of his parents, helping Hermione who had become seriously injured not 15 minutes ago. Death Eaters bodies were strewn everywhere – it had been the final battle, and they had won. Ginny looked down over all this as if she were a god, she saw herself running over to Harry and spotting her parents – that's what had happened right before she awoke._

So according to her dream Malfoy was on their side, but did she believe her dream? What if he wasn't, if they weren't careful they could have a double crosser on their hands. Although why Voldemort would want to use a 17 year old as his spy into the Order of the Phoenix when Snape was there... She again tried to convince herself that Snape did NOT work for Voldemort but for Dumbledore. She snapped out of her thoughts as a large white owl dropped from the window above her, she glanced at it and recognized it immediately. She let the bird in, untied the short letter and quickly found a quill to reply:

Can't sleep either? -Harry

She wrote her reply directly below t he original message

Apparently not, meet down in the lobby?

She watched Hedwig flutter to the window above hers, she hadn't realized Harry and Ron were right there. A rather annoyed looking Hedwig dropped down through her window again with a note that simply said "Okay". She quickly threw on the closest robes she could find and brushed her hair a bit before sneaking quietly through the door and closing it behind her, but out in the hallway she faced someone she hadn't expected... she didn't even think he knew she was awake.

"Ginny isn't it?"  
"Last time I checked..." She raised an eyebrow, Malfoy was being nice to her.  
"Where are you going this late at night?" His tone was polite, it seemed he was asking out of pure boredom sparked curiosity.  
"Harry can't sleep either, we're going to go hang out in the lobby for a while," she never understood what sparked her next question, she had been hoping for some alone time with her long-time crush, "would you like to come?"  
The invitation seemed to catch Malfoy off guard to, but he quickly accepted and disappeared into his room to change into robes, agreeing to meet her and Harry down there.  
"Harry..." She said upon entering the room, there was no one else down there. She found this rather odd, usually at least one creatured dwelled down here late at night, "Draco's coming down too, he has the room right next to me and was in the hallway as I walked out."  
"Oh..." He looked a bit disappointed but quickly covered it, "Okay, maybe he'll be more likely to explain things to just two of us, and WITHOUT Ron or Hermione trying to punch his face out every ten seconds..."  
Ginny took note of the way he said that, as if he wasn't all that sure of what he was saying, just trying to justify Malfoy coming down as a good thing to himself.  
"Potter?" A familiar voice asked, without it's usual malice, "Look, sorry about earlier, this is just really hard for me. I'm not USED to being nice to anyone, much less you three, and to have to begging for help is just degrading, and between the lot of it... I'll try harder if you guys will try to be nice to me."  
"Fair enough," Harry said with a shrug, "I'll try, but I can't speak for Hermione and Ron, but know that if you start being mean to me again I WILL retaliate."  
Ginny wanted to laugh, somehow she found the words "mean" and "retaliate" being used in the same sentence hilarious, it was like a person with a small vocabulary trying to sound smart. She shook herself out of it and went back to listening to the boys.

After about 15 minutes of polite conversation with a few interruptions of insults, and the start of a couple fights the Ginny quickly quelled, Malfoy went back up to bed, stating that he felt much better and might even be able to sleep now.

"I wonder why he couldn't complete that last task..." Harry mused out loud, "I've never imagined him having trouble being violent toward muggleborns."  
"Simple, he's a coward."  
"Or he's lying," Harry said matter-of-factly.  
"That could be to," Ginny admitted, she turned to face him, realizing for the first time how close she was sitting.  
"We should probably be going to bed to," Harry said a slightly uncomfortable tone in his voice.  
"Yeah," Ginny nodded, "See you tomorrow."  
"Goodnight."  
"Sweet dreams."  
"You too," Harry finally turned and went up the stairs, Ginny followed closely, she would have to have some girl talk with Hermione tomorrow in a weak attempt to figure out what Harry thought of her.

(**A/N: **read and review purty please! Flamers will be listened to, although not appreciated, then used to make s'mores for the people who leave nice reviews!)  
  
**Leanne: **thanks for being my first reviewer! I'm glad you like it so far!  
**Chanson Interdite:** thanks... hopefully it will live up to that potential :) I'll do my best!


	3. A Morning Conversation and an Evening In...

**A Morning Conversation and An Evening Introduction**

_Disclaimer:_ _if any of the characters or the places mentioned here belonged to me I would NOT be writing a fanfic, rather I'd be working on the real thing or out spending my millions of dollars partying, and if I owned the song here for the party, I wouldn't be here, I'd be at the party._

Harry got up early in the morning, in preparation of sending Dumbledore a letter about Malfoy. He slowly got himself out of bed, still groggy and definitely not steady on his feet. He threw a plain black robe over his head and made his way downstairs where he found none-other-than Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, hunched over a piece of paper, talking in low, and by the sound of it, confused, voices.

"Mrs. Weasley?"  
"Oh! Good morning Harry dear!"  
"Maybe we should ask him about the letter dear?"  
"Why would he know about it Arthur?"  
"Because Draco would most likely turned to his peers."  
"But he and Harry are long time-"  
"Mrs. Weasley," Harry cut her off, "sorry to interrupt, but Draco's here, he asked Ron, Hermione, and me for help yesterday, some story about failing one of Voldemorts tests, we'd thought we'd at least run it by Dumbledore incase he _was_ telling the truth."  
"So he's here?!"  
"Yeah, for that matter, he's staying in the room right next to Hermione and Ginny's."  
"Oh, that's wonderful! The whole order is searching for him, and it turns out he was telling the truth. He'll come with us today to get school supplies and then back to the order with us. This is our second Slytherin refugee this summer, another girl had her parents murdered when they refused Lucius Malfoy's offer," Mrs.Weasley's face turned grave with the last sentence, a side of her Harry rarely saw.  
"It will all work out in the end Molly, for every life that's lost we save another one."  
"I know Arthur, I just hate to think what could happen."  
"Let's not think about that, let's just send a reply to Dumbledore instead."  
"Okay. Harry dear," she rounded to the teenager that had been trying to block out their conversation, "would you wake up the others? Your letters arrived, and it's close to 9 o'clock, we need to get going if we want to get all your things."  
"Alright, thanks Mrs. Weasley."  
"For what dear?"  
"Everything," Harry shrugged and went up stairs to his and Rons room where he went about trying to figure out how to wake his sleeping friend.  
"You'd think he'd wake himself up with those snores," Harry muttered to himself.

He set to work, starting by saying Ron's name a few times, no luck. He threw a pillow, it bounced off his friend and hit the floor, the soft floosh of the pillows attack on the floor was accompanied by yet another loud snore. Harry sighed, picked up the water bowl sitting on the window, and decided to wash Ron's face.  
"OY! WHAT WAS THAT FOR HARRY?!"  
"You wouldn't wake up," Harry said between laughs, "I'm going to go wake the others, get dressed, your parents are waiting downstairs."  
He made his way into the hall, still doubled over laughing.  
"We're already up, I don't know what you did to Ron, but don't think about trying it on me!" George and Fred were both cracking up, and trying hard to breath.  
"What _did_ you do to him anyway?"  
"Just dumped water on his head."  
"Well," George looked slightly disappointed, "Not as brilliant as I thought, but it had marvelous results!" The twins made their way downstairs as Harry began to climb to the next level up. Bill and Percy were woken without much trouble, but the next thing he knew he was outside of Draco Malfoy's room.  
Harry had never thought he'd be waking Malfoy up for a day of shopping, this was just to odd. As Malfoy's morning mood was yet unexplored territory, he knocked on the door.  
"Yeah?" Uh-oh, he didn't sound like he was in a preaching-about-getting-along mood.  
"Time to get up, we got our Hogwarts letters and everyone's meeting downstairs to go shopping."  
"Okay, okay, I'll be down when I'm ready."  
Harry turned to the next room, Ginny and Hermione. He swallowed, still unsure of how he felt about Ginny. Again he knocked, when no answer came he knocked harder.  
"Alright, alright, I'm up! Jeez, don't break down the door!"  
"Sorry... Is Hermione awake?"  
A clunk and a muffled groan issued from the other side of the door, "Now she is!"  
Harry shook his head to cover his laugh, "Meet down stairs as soon as you can, we got our Hogwarts letters and need to get our school stuff."

He made his way back down to the lobby where Charlie, Bill, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Fred, George, and Ron all waited. Charlie, Bill, and their parents were immersed in conversation, Fred, George, and Ron just looked bored. The twins bored could not possibly be a good thing, so Harry decided it would be a good time to talk to them – it would be a good idea to _limit_ the amount of havoc wreaked today.  
"How's your shop going anyway?"  
"Pretty well, managed to get some Hogwarts students to work for us during the summer and take a little time off, it's been nice, but it's back to work next week, they're parents want them back to get ready for school."  
"Who all's been working for you?"  
"Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan," Harry was surprised to hear this at first, but now that he thought about it, it made since. All teenagers needed money, well, all teenagers that weren't left with they're parents small fortune like he was.  
"Good choice, people you can trust."  
"Yep, that's what we figured."

As Draco Malfoy made his way down the stairs something clicked in the back of Harry's mind, and he wondered who Mrs.Weasley had been talking about, "Who's the Slytherin that's a refugee with the order?"  
This caught Ron's attention, he obviously knew the answer better than the twins because they lapsed into silence and Ron began speaking immediately, "She's actually pretty cool, named Sian Murray, a 5th year. Not your stereotypical Slytherin, you know, she was already kinda friends with Ginny, they have this whole redhead joke thing going 'cause Sian has auburn hair. She was raised with muggles, she's pureblood though, and brought a whole bunch of muggle stuff with her, Dad's been all over it, and Ginny's getting pretty caught up in it too, especially some of the muggle music. She has this thing called a TG, pictures show up on it and sound comes out of it and it's not even happening anywhere near the TG and not always at the same time and she has this thing called a rodeo that plays music where ever you are and something called a Jogman where you can listen to a GB anywhere and it's all so cool but none of it will work and Hogwarts which is kinda..." At this point Ron ran out of breath and choked because he was talking so fast. This sight left the twins, Malfoy, and Harry all laughing so hard they soon couldn't breath either.  
"I think," Harry said between laughing fits, "you mean a TV, a radio, a Walkman, and a CD."  
"Well, close enough," Ron retorted, "it's all really cool anyway."  
"Sounds like she's not to horrible for a Slyth."  
"No, she's pretty cool, going to be a prefect next year to."  
"Who are you talking about?" Malfoy had turned at the word Slyth.  
"Sian Murray."  
"Oh," he remained silent for a time after this. Moments later Hermione and Ginny came down and breakfast began.

The Knight Bus dropped the Weasleys, Hermione, Draco, and Harry off in front of Grimmauld Place. Harry was very interested to meet this Sian, Ginny and Ron both seemed to think she was pretty cool, Malfoy said nothing on subject, and the Weasley parents were both ecstatic about Harry getting to meet her. They made their way quietly into the house, past the portrait of Mrs.Black and into the kitchen. Tonks had already started levitating their trunks up the stairs.  
"Okay you guys, dinner will be in about an hour, we only have us and Tonks so I don't need any help, why don't you guys go find Sian and introduce Harry and Draco."  
Ginny and Ron quickly stood up and walked out, Harry and Draco close behind. Draco looked bored, he at least knew who Sian was, Harry had no idea. They walked into the living room where a petite teenager sat in a chair staring at a computer screen. She was typing, quite a lot quicker than Dudley used to, behind her there was a TV on which there woman standing on stage.  
"I'm here for the party... and I ain't leavin' till they throw me out."  
Ginny migrated immediately to the TV and started singing along. Ron rolled his eyes and Harry went back to studying the girl at the computer. She was slight in frame, very skinny but not annorexically so, she had medium length auburn hair, straight, smooth and very pretty. He saw multiple rings and bracelets adorning pale hands, the paleness was made up for in freckles though, she had freckles everywhere.  
"Heya," the girl had turned around, "who are you guys?"  
Harry noted bright green eyes, a pointed nose, high cheek bones, and an air of intelligence that he could explain, he took this all in within half a second, and set to work trying to figure this girl out, why on Earth was she in Slytherin?  
"Harry and Draco," Ron pointed to them each in turn.  
"Draco Malfoy?"  
"Yeah," Malfoy was studying her as well.  
She nodded, "nice to meet you both."  
"What're you doing?" Harry asked curiosity overcoming him.  
"It's called a fan fiction, it's actually about a book a woman wrote about this wizard that's been almost killed by some evil guy more times than I can count, I'm doing a version of what I think the next book could be like, only putting myself in it, changed my name to "Shelley" I got it from one of the campers at a camp I used to work at. I'm making my favorite character fall in love with myself, it's very much fun." (**A/N:** hehe, I love it)  
Harry nodded, slightly confused and a little weirded out, but she seemed nice enough.  
"So," she turned to Malfoy, "What are you doing here? I thought you were a big Voldemort supporter."  
She said his name, Harry couldn't help but wonder, she said his name.

(A/N: Please Read and Review... Same offer goes with the s'mores and all. I like ideas, and constructive criticism, and "You're the best writer ever, you're my new idol, I love you" and the like P... hey... let a girl dream. Anyway, I probably won't be updating for a while, I apologize, I'm going out of town, I'll see if I can get another chapter in tonight or tomorrow, but I'm gone until September 5th. –tear- I know!)

**Chanson Interdite: **Glad you liked that one better, I did too. ) Thanks for reviewing... twice... makes me feel special P


	4. First Impressions

**First Impressions**

_Disclaimer: If you don't know what belongs to me and what belongs to the great J.K.R. READ THE HARRY POTTER BOOKS DAMN IT!_

So this was Sian, the horrible, traitorous Sian. Draco had heard about _her_ crowd. They hung out with mudbloods and halfbloods, they didn't believe in what the Dark Lord was doing, they were _good_ Slytherins. He snorted, had he not been stuck in his position right now he would have been mocking her.

"_I would've been mocking Potter, Granger, and the Weasleys too." _He reminded himself.

He found himself placed next to her at dinner, but was to busy watching people come in to notice. He saw his old Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, Remus Lupin, he saw a lady in her twenties with bright blue hair and a heart shaped face who introduced herself as Tonks, and many other people, after a while he stopped keeping track.

"So," Sian said between bites, giving Malfoy a start; he'd forgotten she was there, "What brings you here?"

He sighed, "It's rather embarrassing to tell the truth."

"You actually give a damn what I think? Priceless."

He stared at her, not what he expected, "No, I don't care what you think."

"Then why are you worried about being embarrassed?"

"Fine, I failed one of the Dark Lord's tests and now my parents and all other Death Eaters want to kill me."

"Sounds like fun..."

"Tons," he studied the girl for a second, she was pretty, not stunning gorgeous, but not like Pansy, not at all, "Why are you in Slytherin? You don't seem the type," at this question Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione's faces snapped toward them, they seem to be wondering the same thing.

She looked at them as if they were crazy, "You all realize that being Slytherin isn't all about being pureblood and evil. That's a damn stereotype, and I'm getting tired of it. Didn't you listen to the hat's stupid song? Cunning, Ambition, Greed, those are what Slytherin likes, and that's what I've got."

Draco shook his head, "You don't seem like it."

"Wait until you get to know me," she went back to her food and the table soon fell silent.

"Harry, Ron, Ginny, Hermione, Sian, Draco," Mrs.Weasley addressed the minors, "it's time for bed."

Draco stared, "It's 7 pm!"

"And knowing all of you it will be 9 before you even making an attempt to go to sleep."

It was Ron's turn, "Why not let us stay in here so you can keep an eye on us?"

"OUT!" They all sprinted out away from Mrs.Weasley.

"What was all that about?" Draco asked.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all said simultaneously, "Meeting."

Ron turned to his sister, "Extandables Gin?"

"I'll go grab them," Draco watched her sprint up the stairs, he was so confused, what in the name of everything muggle was an extendable?!

Sian beat him to asking the question.

"You'll see, one of Fred and George's inventions, so we can listen in."

"Cool," Sian shrugged in Malfoy's direction and the two looked up the stairs in anticipation.

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Kings Cross was packed as the 6 teenagers, the Weasleys, Mad-Eye Moody, Remus Lupin, Kingsley, and Tonks made they're way to Platform 9 ¾. Moody went into his over-protective mode and began doubling people up to go through together. First was Harry and Lupin, then Hermione and Tonks, Ron and Mr.Weasley, Ginny and Mrs.Weasley, Sian and Kingsley, then finally Draco and Moody himself. He sighed as the other pairs went running through the barrier. When it was just him and Mad-Eye left Moody turned to him.

"You, I'm worried about," he growled, "Almost as much as Harry."

"Why is that?"

"At first I thought you were a spy, but Dumbledore trusts you, so I do as well. Listen closely, stay close to Sian and away from your old friends – they will want to kill you. Be careful especially in Hogsmeade. That's all I have to say, let's go," he turned quickly and strode through the barrier, a confused Draco following suite.

"Oh there you are!" Mrs.Weasley sounded slightly frantic, "Come on the train leaves in two minutes!"

She fussed for a little bit and got her children, Sian, Harry, and Hermione on the train, then it was Draco's turn.

"I do hope you'll join us for Christmas, dear."

"Sure, Mrs.Weasley, I'd be glad to."

As he made his way to the prefects compartment, he realized he really would be glad to, he had thoroughly enjoyed himself at Grimmauld Place, even with the Golden Trio, the Weasleys, and the traitor. He was surprised at himself, he didn't realize how much he had changed. He sighed as he entered the Prefect's compartment, he had forgotten that Pansy Parkinson was the other prefect, as well as a Voldemort supporter. All the other prefects, old and new, were there, and after being introduced they split up, Draco found himself trying to follow Sian, before Pansy caught him.

"You'll pay Malfoy, no one turns their back on the Dark Lord," Pansy glared.

"Funny," Malfoy said maliciously, "I thought I already had."

She moved out of his way, but as he brushed past her, she muttered, "You've been warned."

Draco turned and followed her into the prefects compartment. There Ron and Hermione had already positioned themselves, along with two 5th year Gryffindors Draco didn't recognize, two of the Hufflepuff prefects were already in the carriage as well, a Ravenclaw as well, and upon Pansy, Draco, and Sian's entrance all the Slytherin prefects were present as well. Draco sat carefully between Sian and Pansy.

"_Well, this isn't exactly ideal, between my past friends and my future friends... at least... I hope her group will become my future friends, haven't got anyone else to turn to right now. I wonder what the Great Harry Potter and his followers think of this whole revelation, I'm on their side now, ohh, I bet they do not like that. Come to think of it I don't like that either." _While Draco was lost in thought the rest of the prefects had found their seats, shortly followed by the Head Boy and Girl. Katie Bell and Ryan Lee walked into the room; the hubbub that was the group of prefects soon died and the compartment fell silent.

"Welcome," Katie said in what was obviously a practiced, hopefully short, and rather boring speech, "to another year at Hogwarts. You are all Prefects, new and old, and I would like to introduce you to your duties, whether or not they are new. First off you will be patrolling the train and corridors, we will be handing out schedules as to when you are expected to be in the halls. THIS MEANS PATROLLING. If you are caught doing otherwise during one of your allotted times you will be stripped of your badge. Patrolling times will be before and after classes and up to half an hour after lights out. Another thing we would like prefects to note is that you are ROLEMODELS. We expect you to be on your best behaviour at all times, any serious rule breaking could not only result in your regular punishment, but could cause, yes you guessed it, you to be stripped of your badge. We will be holding meetings once a month, starting next month, during which more detailed assignments will be handed out. Please remember that prefects do not have the authority to dock points from houses. Thank you for your time, you are now free to do as you please, all we ask is that you spend part of your train ride patrolling," Katie and Ryan smiled at him, Malfoy was not impressed. Katie, he knew from experience playing quidditch against her, was outspoken and intelligent, but Ryan seemed a tad... slow... He shoke his head and got up to leave the compartment.

Draco soon caught up with Sian, "Do you mind if I sit with you? I don't think I'm going to be too popular with my old friends?"

"Not at all," her face broke into a grin, "Come on in." (a/n haha, I rhymed!)

He followed her into a fairly full compartment, and Sian set to work introducing everyone.

This took a while, as Draco noted, there were an unusual number of people crammed into the compartment, and they were all different ages, they had second years up to seventh years, very odd indeed. He carefully watched their reactions when they heard his name, all of them turned and a few glared, a sixth year named Will especially seemed to have it in for him. This could be an interesting train ride.

"So Sian," a tan girl with dyed-red hair addressed Draco's new friend, she had been introduced as Ruby, a seventh year and the oldest of the bunch, "How was your summer?"

"Pretty good, and yours?"

"Same ol', same ol', seems so different without camp though."

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

"I can't believe you made Prefect," Will cut into their conversation.

"Yeah, it's kind of cool, power and all that."

"Twelve step program," was all it took, and the three dissolved into laughter.

"Nah, I don't want to turn into you, I think I have my own paths."

"And dangerous ones they are Sian," the boy named Nick smiled up at her, he was a second year, although very mature, and old for his year, he seemed a bit dense to Malfoy.

"Everything about Sian is dangerous," Ruby said matter-of-factly.

"No, everything about Will is dangerous, everything about Sian is just scary," interjected Eve, a blonde fourth year who seemed like a stereotypical blonde gone awry.

"This is a stupid conversation," Sian ended the argument before it started.

"Ahh, but stupid conversations are just so much fun!" Will whined jokingly.

"So, Draco," A fifth year named Maddie turned to address him, "What brings you to resort to hang out with us... what was it they nicknamed us? Traitors?"

Malfoy felt himself turn crimson, he was about to reply, quite rudely, when Sian cut in, "I already explained you guys, be nice, he's had to put up with me for the last two weeks, the least you can give him is a little gratitude for getting rid of me for a while."

They all fell silent stealing silent glares at Sian and Malfoy, Malfoy spaced out while Sian glared back. After a while he got up and opened the door, "Gonna go patrol for a bit."

"See yeah," they all muttered rather resignedly, Sian shot him an apologetic look.

He closed the door behind him, the moment he shut it he thought he'd heard an explosion, but when he listened closely he could tell it was just Sian's muffled tirade at all her friends. He stifled and laugh and moved down the hall to where the Weasley's, Harry, and Hermione sat, there he spent the rest of the train ride, he just dreaded returning to Hogwarts, he knew he'd have to face the Slytherins sometime. Draco was amazed at how short the train ride was, amazed, appalled, and scared out of his mind, he drug his feet out of the carriage and up the stairs to the great hall... That's when all hell broke loose.

(A/N Sorry it sucks, I'll probably rewrite it... again, lol, review, please please please, I want constructive criticism, what can I do to make it better? I'm at a loss... I forgot all about the prefects compartment and had to go back and add it, lol!)


	5. So You Understand?

**So You Understand**

_Disclaimer: Do I really have to come up with another one of these?_

"So," Dumbledore addressed them with seriousness over the tips of his fingers, the gleam remained in his eye but he had a stern expression painted across his face, "You both understand what you have done wrong?"

"Yes sir," the two sixth years said the words in a somber unison.

"Very well, I shall deduct 30 points from each of the four houses," a small smile played across both of the Slytherins' lips, at least their house wasn't the only being punished, "and 30 extra from Slytherin since you two started this whole fiasco," the smiles dissipated a bit, but stayed plastered in place in hopes of pleasing the headmaster,

"You both will receive separate detentions; your head of house will inform you of when and where your punishments will be. Thank you for your time, you are dismissed."

The two teenagers made their way down the spiraling stairs and out of the headmaster's office toward the dungeon common room of Slytherin.

"You're lucky."

Malfoy turned on heel and glared with all the malice his mind possessed, which was quiet a bit considering this was the pureblood son of a top-notch Death Eater, Malfoy shook his head, _"top notch? How is my father 'top notch', the things he does are horrible and must not go un-punished, I have discovered for myself through new friendships that muggleborns and half bloods aren't as horrible as I thought. Wow... When did I get sappy and philosophical? I need to snap out of it... I've got to deal with this idiot."_

"Why am I lucky?"

The brown haired Slytherin turned toward him with hatred and what seemed to be hints of jealousy on every line of his face, "You have never lived the life of a traitor ferret-boy, you will pay for your disloyalty, not just to the Dark Lord, but to your house and those who truly belong in it."

"Oh no! I escaped the Dark Lord without a problem but now _Theodore Nott_ is after me! I will _never_ be able to survive _his_ wrath!" Draco said the line with every ounce of sarcasm he possessed.

"You didn't escape the Dark Lord, not fully, you just managed to avoid him for a while... Don't get your hopes up, he will be avenged."

Draco rolled his eyes, "I'm sure he will be, but until then I would like to get some sleep, so if you don't mind, 'Snake Eyes'," The common room door swung open and Draco swaggered up to his dorm and collapsed quickly into bed, closing his curtains behind him, a confused Nott followed him without a word – not that Draco gave him time to say anything.

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"So," Hermione said from the other bed, "You understand?"

It was a drizzly afternoon, and Ginny had recruited Hermione's help with her homework. She had just today realized how true it was that fifth year was particularly hard, and Hermione had not let her forget _why_ it was so difficult.

"Okay, I think so. If you flick instead of snap, the object you're transfiguring, basically, will explode; where as if you snap instead of flick the object will, basically, turn into your favorite animal?"

Hermione laughed, "That's the main idea, you'll have to read to get the details. I don't think you're going to turn that into a 3 ft. essay."

"Well yeah, but at least I get it now," Ginny was sitting cross-legged on her bed surrounded by transfiguration books that managed to twist the simplest thing into the most complex definition possible. Hermione was sitting across from her on one of her roommate's beds where the two had been cramming all afternoon. It was Thursday and the first week of school was coming to a close, a fact for which Ginny was very thankful.

"Gin, you look brain-dead, why don't you take a break?" The Weasley stared at the frizzy-haired girl across from her, what an un-Hermione like thing to say! Did she just say a break from homework? Something must be wrong.

"Oh, don't look at me like that, I'm not as uptight as I used to be, I've been hanging around your brother and Harry too much for that."

Ginny just laughed, "Whether you've gone insane... or maybe you've gone sane... I'll take that offer," she jotted down a few notes so she wouldn't forget what Hermione had explained to her about the difference between "snapping" and "flicking" her wand and quickly stood up to leave.

"Let's get out of here! I'm so tired of being cooped up in this room; let's go down to the common room at least."

"Sounds good to me. Let's go!" As the two were walking down the stairs Hermione started a seemingly innocent conversation, "So, are you going to enter?"

"Enter what?"

Hermione's next words brought the fiery redhead to a complete standstill...

(**A/N:** Alright kids, sorry it took so long, I have chapter 6 being beta'd as we speak and chapter 7 bein' written ï I'm sorry to say neither will be up this weekend since a) I don't know how long my wonderful beta-girl Jade is gonna take, and 2) I'm out of town, oh, and not to mention III) I found an awesome new game that I can't get enough of P I'm working on it though... oh yes, and I'm also sorry this chappy is SOO short, but don't worry, they're getting longer, please keep in mind this is my first fic. Same deal with S'mores and Flames)


	6. So Much Better

**So Much Better**

_Disclaimer: Ignoring the fact that I'm 16, I'm NOT a famous writer, I'm NOT rich, and I'm NOT working on the Half Blood Prince I'm almost exactly like JKR and therefore have the right to claim all Harry Potter characters... NOT!_

McGonagall(sp? Jade...) stopped him after class, "Harry," the name rang in his ears and it took him a second to register it as his own.

He turned slowly, wondering what he'd been framed for or who was trying to kill him this time, "Yes Professor?"

"Professor Dumbledore would like to see you in his office before dinner, password is Every Flavor."

"Okay Professor."

"I'll see you tomorrow," she had a gleam in her eye Harry couldn't have ignored if he wanted to, _why_ did Dumbledore want to see him?

He met Ron and Hermione right outside the door, "What was that all about?" The Weasley boy was quick to ask.

"I need to see Dumbledore, probably another dumb warning."

Hermione immediately went into her mothering mode, which Harry and Ron had found harder and harder to avoid lately, "They aren't dumb Harry," she lectured, "They're important, but I don't think that's it."

Ron and Harry took one look at Hermione and began distancing themselves a little, "That look is freaky Hermione."

"Yeah," Harry agreed, momentarily forgetting they're new-found alliance, "You look like you're about to turn Malfoy into a ferret."

"Oh no, this is _so_ much better than that!" Her grin widened, and so did her eyes, creating a very scary Malfoy-Professor Trelenway(sp? Again! Ahh! My books are at my Mom's, lol) mix which created a sensation inside of Harry that made him want to run away screaming for help.

"Well," Ron said impatiently, "are you going to tell us?"

"Absolutely not," Hermione reprimanded, "I'm not even supposed to know! Besides, it'd ruin the fun of watching Harry tell you, and you'll both find out soon enough anyway."

The rest of the day seemed to inch by, and as dinner grew closer Harry's curiosity began to mount. He (unlike Ron) did not pester Hermione; he knew she wasn't going to tell them. Finally it was fifteen minutes before dinner, and Harry realized he didn't know _when_ he was supposed to meet Dumbledore.

"I guess I better go."

"See ya! Tell me all about it when you get back, if it's got Hermione looking that creepy it's gotta be good!"

"Alright, will do mate," he waved to Ron as he got up and headed across the common room.

"Have fun," Hermione had the same Malfoy-Trelenway(ahh!) grin in place that she had worn when she first found out Harry had been called to Dumbledore's office.

"Erm, okay Herm..." He quickly made his way through the portrait hole and toward the statue outside of Dumbledore's office.

"Every Flavor," his excitement and apprehension grew as the goblin (? I think that's what I remember) stepped aside, allowing him to climb the stairs to the Headmaster's office. He knocked on the door and waited nervously for an answer, twiddling his hands to expend energy.

"Come in Harry, I have an important favor to ask of you."

Harry walked into the now familiar office that looked just as it had the last time he'd been in it. A pang of guilt and sadness pressed at him and a wave of pain that had been threatening to come forth for some time was again pushed back into place.

"What is it Professor?"

"Please, sit down, this may come as a slightly shocking request," he saw an unfamiliar, yet very prominent, gleam in Dumbledore's eye. Besides, he'd caught Harry's interest with the word "shocking". Hadn't he been through enough that Dumbledore knew he was hard to shock? Perhaps not... But perhaps so...

"Do you remember the Yule Ball Harry?"

"Of course Professor," How could he forget?

"Well, we're going to have a Halloween Ball just for fun this year!"

"Really?!" He tried (and probably failed) to sound enthused about the upcoming event. After the events of two years ago he couldn't imagine repeating the horrors of trying to find a date again.

"Yes, but as you yourself, I'm sure, experienced, it's not always easy to get a date for the ball," Harry turned a slight shade of crimson and Dumbledore nodded knowingly, "Well, this time we want to encourage people to come, date or no."

Harry nodded, he liked the sound of that, but when Dumbledore continued he started to have second thoughts about this whole "coming alone" thing, "Well, Professor McGonagall (sp again) and I were talking, and we asked ourselves, what better way to convince people to come alone than to have two drawings: One for the girls and one for the boys, to go to the dance with the most eligible person of the opposite sex."

Harry gaped, they were insane, but he finished Dumbledore's thought through his confusion, sarcasm etched in every part of his voice, "and who is more eligible than the great Harry Potter?"

"I hate to say it, but right you are my boy!"

Harry sighed and went to work figuring out his answer. The plus side was he wouldn't need to find a date of his own, and it was only for a night, how horrible could it be? After about two minutes of conflicting thoughts running through his head (over, and over, and over again) he made up his mind, "sure."

"Very good," Dumbledore clapped his hands happily.

"One question," a thought popped randomly into Harry's head, "who's the girl?"

Dumbledore smiled politely, "Why, you're friend Sian actually."

Harry's mouth dropped open, "Sian, why Sian?"

"Well, we wanted someone in 6th or 7th year, on a quidditch team, a nice person, somewhat good looking, not in Gryffindor since we already had you... So it was either Cho Chang or Sian, Cho refused to participate."

Harry shook his head, that made sense, but wait a second, "Sian's on the Slytherin quidditch team?"

"Yes, she's their new keeper," Harry quickly stored this information for later, he'd found out earlier he'd been appointed quidditch captain, and knowing the other teams keeper and her abilities would be good information.

Dumbledore interrupted his thoughts, "Oh look at the time! We'd best go eat!" The two made their way out of Dumbledore's office and down the stairs, where they split, Dumbledore heading to the staff table and Harry taking his seat between Ron and Hermione.

Over dinner Harry told Ron and Hermione everything he could remember about his discussion with Dumbledore, except for Cho being chosen before Sian. When Harry was done Ron paused for a minute with a thoughtful look on his face, then burst into laughter. Hermione sat back and smirked knowingly.

"How did you know Hermione?" Harry asked through a mouthful of chicken.

"I have connections," she shrugged and suddenly became very occupied with her Marmalade.

Harry and Ron looked at each other, "Sian," they said unanimously.

"That would be my name!" The flamboyant red head showed up at the perfect time, flanked by the ever-present Eve and Nick, "I'm guessing Dumbledore talked to you?"

"Yep," he scowled as the Slytherin burst out laughing.

"Sorry," she stopped abruptly, looking at his face, "I just find this whole thing hilarious. See you guys later," she returned to Slytherin table somewhat abruptly, sitting down between Malfoy and Eve.

"Just hope you don't end up with someone like Pansy or Eloise," Ron pointed out.

"Oh, come on Ron!" Hermione protested, "You judge girls way to much based on their looks!"

"I made that mistake once, I won't do it again," realizing what he'd just said he turned away, but Harry saw the red-tinge spreading to the back of his ears.

"When did you make that mistake?" Hermione asked in innocent curiosity.

"Never mind," Ron muttered.

Harry had a vague idea of what Ron meant and promptly asked Hermione, "What'd you think of that potions quiz?"

Hermione immediately started her reenactment of the day's pop-quiz and forgot all about Ron, who gave Harry a thankful look and returned to his dinner.

(**A/N: **I must apologize this is moving so slowly – During the ball things will pick up a bit, just bear with me ï Thanks to Jade for being my marvelous beta and thanks to you guys for reading – please review. Again, sorry it's short!)


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